1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for storing and transporting a plurality of golf clubs, and more particularly to improved apparatus which integrates an easily attachable yet quickly removable means for transporting a golf bag with clubs stowed therein during play.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
Various approaches to the combination of a golf bag and cart have been used in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,581 (Rosenfield) discloses a kit to convert a conventional golf bag to a golf cart, in which an elastic band is attached to the base of the golf bag to receive a pair of wheels to add mobility to the bag when it is pulled by its attached strap. The kit further includes a stabilizing foot which is mounted on the elastic band on the side opposite the attached strap. Such an arrangement, while capable of providing a kit to adapt conventional golf bags, is nevertheless inherently unstable by virtue of its relatively loose connection to such golf bags through the elastic band. Its use of a short "stabilizing foot" which is displaced only a small distance from the center of rotation of the kit's wheels also does not provide sufficient stability. Moreover, when the converted golf bag is thus used in its cart mode, reliance upon the bag's attached strap as a means of pulling the cart would cause further instability underway.
Like the Rosenfield '581 patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,068 (Liao et al.) discloses a convertible golf cart and bag having a pulling ring with a flexible strap which, when the golf bag is converted into a golf cart, is used to pull the golf bag. The bag has, at its base, a rigidly constructed T-shaped element to which removable spoked wheels and a support stand may be attached. While it provides a somewhat more stable platform that the Rosenfield '581 patent, the Liao et al. '068 patent also lacks certain stability underway by virtue of its use of the small, flexible strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,576 (Finlay) discloses another combination golf club container and cart which avoids the potential instability caused by use of a strap to pull the carts (as in the Rosenfield '581 and Liao et al. '068 patents) by using a rigid pivotal handle. Such handle may be folded back against the bag when not in use, and pivoted or extended when utilizing the device as a pull-cart. The device also includes a mechanically-complex, foldable strut assembly which is carried by a frame, and adapted to be folded flat against the frame or extended in a cantilever fashion to carry a wheel and axle assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,071 (Widegren) discloses a golf bag unit having extendible and retractable traveling wheels and a ground support foot. It, like the Finlay '576 patent, includes a rigid pulling handle which is adapted to fold out of the way when not in use, and is mechanically complex.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,597 (Hickin) discloses a combination golf cart and golf bag assembly formed having a rigid tubular housing defining a capsule with a removable cover, the housing being provided with both upper and lower closed ends, wherein a plurality of elongated tubes are mounted in the upper end for receiving the shafts of golf clubs, a cup member being centrally positioned in the upper closed end for storing equipment, and the capsule being mountable to the outside structure of a vehicle by means of a first and a second structure bracket, there being wheels mounted to the lower end of the capsule and a removable handle mounted at the upper end of the capsule to define a cart in conjunction with the golf bag. The assembly according to the Hickin '597 patent, however, is exceptionally bulky and incapable of being stored/transferred in the trunks of most modern cars.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,202 (Nelson et al.) discloses a combination golf cart and bag provided with wheels and wheel struts that easily fit into place without complicated mechanical devices, and a handle which similarly fits into place and when all is not used are stored in similar fashion as the clubs. A support strut which is required on other prior art to stand free is ostensibly not necessary with this cart. However, the removable wheels, wheel struts, and handle are not positively locked in place when in use. As a result, there is an increased potential for the cart to come undone while being pulled over uneven terrain of the sorts found at most golf courses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,169 (Taylor) discloses a combined golf bag and cart mechanism in which the bag and cart are permanently coupled to one another. The bag provides a rigid support for the cart and is provided with a cavity. The cart is movable between a retracted position in which the cart wholly nests within the cavity, and an extended position in which the cart supports the bag for transport. The cart has a pair of substantially elliptically shaped wheels, and an orienting device for maintaining the wheels in planes parallel to the axis of the cavity in both the retracted and extended positions of the cart. Nevertheless, the highly complex mechanical interactions required to deploy the cart make such cart difficult to use and susceptible to breakdown.